Quote Originally Posted by Lyle View Post
OK I was wrong on Robinson but right on Leonard....Ray Leonard beat Ayube Kalule for the WBA Light Middle Weight title. Ray Leonard also won a title at 168 as well as 175.

I'm sorry Jaz, but Floyd just hasn't done enough to even be in the freaking conversation as the Greatest of All-Time. EVERYBODY in that discussion fought legitimate THREATS. Robinson, Leonard, Armstrong, Duran, Pep, and Hearns fought anyone and everyone.

Has Floyd ever unified? NO....Has Floyd fought the most dangerous fighters of his era? NO or yes but outside of their normal weight classes.
My mistake on SRL's LMW title, but Kalule?? That guy should never have been a world champ. He made Henry Brusseles look like Miguel Cotto. Kalule seemed to be the benchmark by how the WBA now appoints interim champs.

If you go through almost any fighter's record, including some of those mentioned, than you can pick flaws. Unification used to matter when there were 2 champs. With about 6 per division now, it really doesn't hold the same weight. You don't seem to hold much regard for the most recent fighter to unify a division, what's his name?? David something??

None of us can judge things in the moment. It's how it looks in retrospect that defines things. If Mayweather did beat those mentioned, in 10-20 years, people will have a very different take. The 2 most obvious examples of this are SRL & ODLH. At the time both were criticized heavily as 'cherry-pickers' by hardcore fans, yet with retrospect (& some glossing over) both have become guys 'who took on the best'.

I don't feel he has done enough yet to warrant being there, but for me if he beat both Mosley & the winner of Pac/Cotto, than he could be DISCUSSED there, although I still wouldn't have him top, probably in or around Top 5. If he beat a Williams/Pavlik level of fighter at 160, probably giving up about 20lbs in weight, than yeah, I'd probably put him at #1. Like I said previously though, that's a long way to go. I would say that right now, for me, he is the best boxer I've seen in my lifetime (23 years), but he's not quite on the level of the Robinsons, Peps or Leonards (either one).